Finding Your Potential Affiliates’ Hot Buttons – and Pushing Them!

As you go through the process of identifying and evaluating potential affiliates, you will want to take some steps to find out just what makes that potential partner tick. What motivates him or her? Are there specific wants, needs, or desires that a partnership with you would address?

Fortunately, there are several quick and easy ways to find out what the hot buttons are for a candidate. At the same time, you can also get some insight into just how to push those buttons in a way that will prove to be advantageous for both of you.

Here are some examples of where to look:

• Newsletters. If your candidate already has a business up and running, look at public documents, such as a newsletter. You can often find valuable clues about short term and long term goals, as well as general operating philosophies.

• Company web sites. Look at how the site is set up, and what type of client base it seems to be aimed at. This will provide helpful clues about what markets the your partner likes to target, and possibly give you some ideas about how to help him or her penetrate those demographics.

• Message boards. These can be company sponsored message boards, or boards set up for affiliates to network. You can get an idea from the posts whether the affiliate is in the game for financial security, for the challenge, or for status. These clues can help you know just how to present your program.

• Word of Mouth. Ask around about the candidate. The observations of others will provide some food for thought that might lead you to a better understand of what makes him or her tick.

PUSHING THOSE BUTTONS

Once you know what the hot buttons are, you can move on to the task of pushing them to get the desired results. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

• Appeal to the over-riding motivation of the candidate. If it is making money, then focus on that aspect of your program. If the desire is to be a success in the eyes of his or her peers, let that be the guiding light. Whatever the most important reason for the interest, build on it.

• Address some of the secondary motivations as well. Just about everyone has more than one reason for what they choose to do. Your candidates primary motive may be money to send the kids to college, but could there also be a desire to put back some funds into a retirement plan?

Reinforcing the impact of pressing that “primary” hot button with a few presses to these secondary buttons can put the deal over the edge.

• Keep the focus on what the candidate will get from being part of the program. This does not mean to completely exclude yourself. But present that as a secondary issue. By making your potential affiliate the center recipient of the all rewards, you simply sweeten the deal and give all those buttons an extra push.

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